Word of Cautions to ppl that take their car to Lexus of Portland
10-25-06, 09:35 AM
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Word of Cautions to ppl that take their car to Lexus of Portland
Dear IS and Lexus enthusiast,
I hope what happened to my IS300 is just a random occurrence but please make sure you check your Lexus thoroughly before leaving the parking lot of Lexus of Portland.
It’s a really a long story spanning over 14 months so I’ll try to be as brief as I can and not go with too much details.
On 06/09/2005 I took my 2002 Solar Yellow IS300 to Lexus of Portland to get the passenger side seatbelt latch replaced under the factory warranty. The process involved removing the passenger seat.
After the repair I found about 4-5 scratch/cut marks on the center console and one mark on the lower part of the dash. Apparently the marks were caused direct hit from the seat rail. I notified the Service advisor the next day and bring the car over to be inspected.
The SA told me that they should be able to repair the marks but since it will take awhile he told me to schedule it on my next oil change.
After being reminded that I've been going back and forward to the dealership 4 times for "we need your car to see what needed to be done/ordered to repair the damage" they finally decided to keep my IS until it got fully repaired.
After a couple of fail attempts to repair the console and dash they told me that they are just going to replace the center console.
Nothing is being said about the dash and when responding to my voicemail messages about it the SA almost always chooses not to answer it. After being asked a few times he said that they don't have any record about the dash being one of the damaged area (even when I came down there 4 times to show them the locations of the damage, and putting 3M flags on each of the marks for the last two). But he said that he will talk with his manager for approvals since the repair would cost "thousand of dollars".
On 9/22/06 I came back to the dealership to pick up my IS since they told me that they got everything repaired. As soon as I get into the IS I noticed that the damage on the dash have not been repaired. So I immediately went back inside and inform a different SA since the one handling my case was already gone.
On the way home I noticed that the center console is not installed properly and the arm rest sticks, so I decided to give check them as soon as I got back home.
After inspecting the car I found the car is in worse shaped than before. I found the center console was miss-aligned; insulation foam sticking out from the center console; new cut, scuff and scratch marks around the dash and 2 long cut marks on the back of the armrest's post that was caused by bad installation of the armrest (the reason why it sticks).
So I left a voicemail message to the SA stating my concern the same day.
Lexus of Portland had me brought the IS down again and after going dealing with the technician that worked on the car, the Service Manager and then the Service Director. They re-installed the center console and replaced the armrest post. Nothing is being done to the dash since they don't think that they should be responsible for the damages there. I've been really sick and tired of battling this and deprived of my IS so I decided to just give it up and just get the car back
On 10/20/06 I went to the dealership again to pick up my IS.
I inspected the interior of the car with an SA ad the Service Director present. Off course the dash is still in broken condition but not much I can do there since they are firm on their decision. One thing that I found odd during the whole process is that the IS was moved from the side of the service building to a lot across from it when I waited for the service director to come and meet me. The car was parked with its back against the wall and sandwiched between 2 other cars. From my 4 years experience going there for service and/or repair they would always pull the car forward to the service building and left it there for pick up.
I don't know why they did that but all I know is I found my passenger side tail light to be smashed open after I got back home. I immediately took pictures and called (and left voicemail message) to the SA and director but have not hear back up to this date.
It seems that the tail light was broken for quite awhile since a lot of the chrome surface has bubbled up and some if it peeled off. There is water and water mark inside it also.
I hope this is not they way they threat all of their customer but please be careful if you ever bring your car to Lexus of Portland
I hope what happened to my IS300 is just a random occurrence but please make sure you check your Lexus thoroughly before leaving the parking lot of Lexus of Portland.
It’s a really a long story spanning over 14 months so I’ll try to be as brief as I can and not go with too much details.
On 06/09/2005 I took my 2002 Solar Yellow IS300 to Lexus of Portland to get the passenger side seatbelt latch replaced under the factory warranty. The process involved removing the passenger seat.
After the repair I found about 4-5 scratch/cut marks on the center console and one mark on the lower part of the dash. Apparently the marks were caused direct hit from the seat rail. I notified the Service advisor the next day and bring the car over to be inspected.
The SA told me that they should be able to repair the marks but since it will take awhile he told me to schedule it on my next oil change.
After being reminded that I've been going back and forward to the dealership 4 times for "we need your car to see what needed to be done/ordered to repair the damage" they finally decided to keep my IS until it got fully repaired.
After a couple of fail attempts to repair the console and dash they told me that they are just going to replace the center console.
Nothing is being said about the dash and when responding to my voicemail messages about it the SA almost always chooses not to answer it. After being asked a few times he said that they don't have any record about the dash being one of the damaged area (even when I came down there 4 times to show them the locations of the damage, and putting 3M flags on each of the marks for the last two). But he said that he will talk with his manager for approvals since the repair would cost "thousand of dollars".
On 9/22/06 I came back to the dealership to pick up my IS since they told me that they got everything repaired. As soon as I get into the IS I noticed that the damage on the dash have not been repaired. So I immediately went back inside and inform a different SA since the one handling my case was already gone.
On the way home I noticed that the center console is not installed properly and the arm rest sticks, so I decided to give check them as soon as I got back home.
After inspecting the car I found the car is in worse shaped than before. I found the center console was miss-aligned; insulation foam sticking out from the center console; new cut, scuff and scratch marks around the dash and 2 long cut marks on the back of the armrest's post that was caused by bad installation of the armrest (the reason why it sticks).
So I left a voicemail message to the SA stating my concern the same day.
Lexus of Portland had me brought the IS down again and after going dealing with the technician that worked on the car, the Service Manager and then the Service Director. They re-installed the center console and replaced the armrest post. Nothing is being done to the dash since they don't think that they should be responsible for the damages there. I've been really sick and tired of battling this and deprived of my IS so I decided to just give it up and just get the car back
On 10/20/06 I went to the dealership again to pick up my IS.
I inspected the interior of the car with an SA ad the Service Director present. Off course the dash is still in broken condition but not much I can do there since they are firm on their decision. One thing that I found odd during the whole process is that the IS was moved from the side of the service building to a lot across from it when I waited for the service director to come and meet me. The car was parked with its back against the wall and sandwiched between 2 other cars. From my 4 years experience going there for service and/or repair they would always pull the car forward to the service building and left it there for pick up.
I don't know why they did that but all I know is I found my passenger side tail light to be smashed open after I got back home. I immediately took pictures and called (and left voicemail message) to the SA and director but have not hear back up to this date.
It seems that the tail light was broken for quite awhile since a lot of the chrome surface has bubbled up and some if it peeled off. There is water and water mark inside it also.
I hope this is not they way they threat all of their customer but please be careful if you ever bring your car to Lexus of Portland
10-30-06, 12:17 PM
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juniorsdad,
Thank you.
I actually did file a complain to Lexus corporate on Monday (10/23/06) but haven't got any update yet so I'm planning to give them a call later today.
Although I would rather call mine, "stating my concern/complain" (I did the venting part with my friends and those who under my recommendation bought a Lexus) you are right about venting part.
At this point I have given up hope on getting Lexus of Portland to be responsible for the damages. If they are not going to be responsible for the damages that they didn't deny of causing what about those that they won't admit of causing.
Anyway, after that being said I'm now deprived from my spendable income for buying replacement taillights through an eBay seller.
But it's better than keep on being reminded on how wrong we've (me and my car) have been threated by the dealership.
Thank you.
I actually did file a complain to Lexus corporate on Monday (10/23/06) but haven't got any update yet so I'm planning to give them a call later today.
Although I would rather call mine, "stating my concern/complain" (I did the venting part with my friends and those who under my recommendation bought a Lexus) you are right about venting part.
At this point I have given up hope on getting Lexus of Portland to be responsible for the damages. If they are not going to be responsible for the damages that they didn't deny of causing what about those that they won't admit of causing.
Anyway, after that being said I'm now deprived from my spendable income for buying replacement taillights through an eBay seller.
But it's better than keep on being reminded on how wrong we've (me and my car) have been threated by the dealership.
10-30-06, 08:09 PM
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All Lexus dealers are horrible! Lexus of Bellevue buffed the paint off of my friend's brand new IS300 a couple years back in the middle of their "detail" then they "lost" it and put 120 miles on it, ripped the seat, and put an 02ish style tail light in place of the one they broke. They can't fix a thing and I refuse to let those morons ever touch my SC again! Sorry to hear your problem, man.
10-31-06, 10:01 AM
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TRD Power and 94lex83457,
Thank you for your response.
What sad is we would not expect that kind of service from any dealership let alone a high end dealership like Lexus.
I had some other problems in the past too with them when they basically said that the problems that I'm having with the car is just the way the car was designed and built. Making it sound that it's normal for the car to have quality problem.
Thank you for your response.
What sad is we would not expect that kind of service from any dealership let alone a high end dealership like Lexus.
I had some other problems in the past too with them when they basically said that the problems that I'm having with the car is just the way the car was designed and built. Making it sound that it's normal for the car to have quality problem.
10-31-06, 01:44 PM
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TRD Power and 94lex83457,
Thank you for your response.
What sad is we would not expect that kind of service from any dealership let alone a high end dealership like Lexus.
I had some other problems in the past too with them when they basically said that the problems that I'm having with the car is just the way the car was designed and built. Making it sound that it's normal for the car to have quality problem.
Thank you for your response.
What sad is we would not expect that kind of service from any dealership let alone a high end dealership like Lexus.
I had some other problems in the past too with them when they basically said that the problems that I'm having with the car is just the way the car was designed and built. Making it sound that it's normal for the car to have quality problem.
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11-02-06, 07:35 AM
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yamazaki - Sorry to hear about your experience, it's just not right. Part of owning a Lexus should be the experience of going to the dealership, sipping that free espresso, watching the salt water fish swim around, hearing the sound of high heals (not worn by myself I might add 
...the receptionist) against the marble floor all while knowing your vehicle is being babied.
Coming from a past SA (granted, a Chevrolet dealership in a small town), do beware. I only did the job for 4 months, reason: I realized just what went on behind the scenes & wouldn't put up with it. I am not trying to scare anyone here and make it seem like you can NEVER take your car somewhere and trust it. I HAVE found a few places that I will take my car and NOT worry, yet few and far between. Your best bet, building a relationship with the crew there. Bring in doughnuts or coffee, something to make them treat you one notch above the rest. I know it's not right & shouldn't have to be done, but it sure does make the 'shop' experience much better. You could always take it to someone you know (friends/family) but then you deal with the friends & family aspect of things which has the potential of getting ugly in some worlds.
...the receptionist) against the marble floor all while knowing your vehicle is being babied.Coming from a past SA (granted, a Chevrolet dealership in a small town), do beware. I only did the job for 4 months, reason: I realized just what went on behind the scenes & wouldn't put up with it. I am not trying to scare anyone here and make it seem like you can NEVER take your car somewhere and trust it. I HAVE found a few places that I will take my car and NOT worry, yet few and far between. Your best bet, building a relationship with the crew there. Bring in doughnuts or coffee, something to make them treat you one notch above the rest. I know it's not right & shouldn't have to be done, but it sure does make the 'shop' experience much better. You could always take it to someone you know (friends/family) but then you deal with the friends & family aspect of things which has the potential of getting ugly in some worlds.
11-03-06, 01:54 PM
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Hi Blk on blk,
Well, I bought my Lexus as part of growing up from a long family line of Toyota owners.
I used to be so happy with Toyota and Lexus (especially when I initially got my IS) and tell people about it. Heck, the first year I had my car I even convinced a couple of my friends, my brother and his in-law to get a Lexus.
But I guess from now on I will be preaching a different word about the brand thanks to the way the dealership have been treating me.
I would not expect for Lexus of Portland to babied my car but at least I expect them to threat her with respect.
I agree about building a good relationship with people that work on your car but I guess it's not possible for me to do with Lexus of Portland after all that happened.
Well, I bought my Lexus as part of growing up from a long family line of Toyota owners.
I used to be so happy with Toyota and Lexus (especially when I initially got my IS) and tell people about it. Heck, the first year I had my car I even convinced a couple of my friends, my brother and his in-law to get a Lexus.
But I guess from now on I will be preaching a different word about the brand thanks to the way the dealership have been treating me.
I would not expect for Lexus of Portland to babied my car but at least I expect them to threat her with respect. I agree about building a good relationship with people that work on your car but I guess it's not possible for me to do with Lexus of Portland after all that happened.
11-06-06, 12:31 PM
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I finally saw a respond from Lexus of Portland being posted today to BBB website (maybe because this is the last day given to them by BBB to respond).
I guess I should not be too surprised that they will deny all responsibilities (that my car was damaged when it was under their possession) or any wrong doing.
But they just hit the record low by claiming that they have an inspection form noting that taillight was "cracked prior to vehicle arriving to the dealership" and that they have brought it up to my attention.
Well, I guess it's a lot easier to lie than to admit that you screwed up and have to be responsible about it.
I guess I should not be too surprised that they will deny all responsibilities (that my car was damaged when it was under their possession) or any wrong doing.
But they just hit the record low by claiming that they have an inspection form noting that taillight was "cracked prior to vehicle arriving to the dealership" and that they have brought it up to my attention.
Well, I guess it's a lot easier to lie than to admit that you screwed up and have to be responsible about it.
11-26-06, 10:57 PM
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Well, Lexus of Portland have decided not to even respond to the "Inspection form" inquiry that BBB sent on my behalf.
It must be tough for them to show a form that doesn't even exist.
I guess all I can do now is to keep on telling people to be cautious when bringing their car for repair there...
Scheduled maintenance I think is still ok since the only stupid thing that they did to my car is leaving the transmission fluid dip stick 3/4 out and propped againts the firewall
It must be tough for them to show a form that doesn't even exist.
I guess all I can do now is to keep on telling people to be cautious when bringing their car for repair there...
Scheduled maintenance I think is still ok since the only stupid thing that they did to my car is leaving the transmission fluid dip stick 3/4 out and propped againts the firewall
12-19-06, 06:31 PM
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Talking about stabbing an old wounds.
28 days after BBB marked the case as closed (unresolved) Lexus of Portland decided to sent a "final response".
Here is their response:
"Per our previous response, we have repaired the areas of the vehicle that were scratched by the technician during the repair. The other scratches that he is referring to, are not related to the repairs that were made at our Dealership. The taillight was cracked and this was pointed out to Mr. Tasmin when he originally came into the Service Department. He is fully aware of the taillight crack. This has been explained multiple times to Mr. Tasmin and although he did not agree with the decision not to fix scratches, he understood that we were not going to repair the other scratches and or taillight."
Well, this just add to the list of their lies.
First of all, I requested the "inspection form" capturing the "cracked taillight" and my acknowledgement on it that they claimmed to have 42 days ago but have not seen anything yet.
Secondly, I reported the smashed taillight as soon as I got back home which was on the evening of October 20th to the voicemailbox of Jaymie Hampson (Service Director) and Don (Service Advisor) and have not got any respond back.
How could somebody explainied something multiple times if they have not even returned my first call?
Last but not least, they keep on trying to convinced BBB that all the damages to the dash are not related to the repairs that they've done. The damage on the lower right part of the dash happened when they are replacing the seatbelt latch (along with damages to the center console). One of the damage that I pointed out 4 times to them and didn't get objected until they are in the middle of their repair attemps.
Besides, say that the other damages to the dash are new and might not be directly related to the repairs that they've done, its happened when the car is in their possesion and care, inside their property.
28 days after BBB marked the case as closed (unresolved) Lexus of Portland decided to sent a "final response".
Here is their response:
"Per our previous response, we have repaired the areas of the vehicle that were scratched by the technician during the repair. The other scratches that he is referring to, are not related to the repairs that were made at our Dealership. The taillight was cracked and this was pointed out to Mr. Tasmin when he originally came into the Service Department. He is fully aware of the taillight crack. This has been explained multiple times to Mr. Tasmin and although he did not agree with the decision not to fix scratches, he understood that we were not going to repair the other scratches and or taillight."
Well, this just add to the list of their lies.
First of all, I requested the "inspection form" capturing the "cracked taillight" and my acknowledgement on it that they claimmed to have 42 days ago but have not seen anything yet.
Secondly, I reported the smashed taillight as soon as I got back home which was on the evening of October 20th to the voicemailbox of Jaymie Hampson (Service Director) and Don (Service Advisor) and have not got any respond back.
How could somebody explainied something multiple times if they have not even returned my first call?
Last but not least, they keep on trying to convinced BBB that all the damages to the dash are not related to the repairs that they've done. The damage on the lower right part of the dash happened when they are replacing the seatbelt latch (along with damages to the center console). One of the damage that I pointed out 4 times to them and didn't get objected until they are in the middle of their repair attemps.
Besides, say that the other damages to the dash are new and might not be directly related to the repairs that they've done, its happened when the car is in their possesion and care, inside their property.
12-26-06, 11:24 PM
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Update:
12/22/06 I got an e-mail from BBB saying that they have judged that the dealership have make enough effort to resolve the issue and closed the case.
Really weird, I though I was telling them that all of my effort to get the dealership to respond (i,e, asking for their "inspection form") and be responsible never got answered.
What I don't really get is why the case got taken out completely from BBB website (when doing a search on Lexus of Portland) eventhough the status of the case is still the same as it was; closed-unresolved.
thoughts?
12/22/06 I got an e-mail from BBB saying that they have judged that the dealership have make enough effort to resolve the issue and closed the case.
Really weird, I though I was telling them that all of my effort to get the dealership to respond (i,e, asking for their "inspection form") and be responsible never got answered.
What I don't really get is why the case got taken out completely from BBB website (when doing a search on Lexus of Portland) eventhough the status of the case is still the same as it was; closed-unresolved.
thoughts?
12-31-06, 08:56 PM
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Hi TRD_Power,
Thanks man.
Yeah, I must have done something really wrong in my past to deserve this
LOL.
What I son't understand is why (after putting the case as closed-unresolved on their website) BBB suddenly decided to let Lexus of Portland re-open the case and submit a final response (which is basically a repeat of their first response), asked me if I accept or reject the dealership final response , took my rejection, closed the case as resolved and then taking it completely of their website.
Right now, the case that I submitted can not be found at all on their website.
Curious...
Anyway, Have a happy New Year 2007 to everybody
Thanks man.
Yeah, I must have done something really wrong in my past to deserve this
LOL.What I son't understand is why (after putting the case as closed-unresolved on their website) BBB suddenly decided to let Lexus of Portland re-open the case and submit a final response (which is basically a repeat of their first response), asked me if I accept or reject the dealership final response , took my rejection, closed the case as resolved and then taking it completely of their website.
Right now, the case that I submitted can not be found at all on their website.
Curious...
Anyway, Have a happy New Year 2007 to everybody